The Monday After
by MissKat18
Summary: Bender and Allison come closer together after their relationships don't work out. And they learn what it is to really love and trust another person.


Monday morning Allison trudged into Sherman High School. It was the moment of truth and she was terrified. She was wearing the clothes that Claire had given her Saturday, and had even gone easy on the black shit. But, try as she might, Allison couldn't help but feel uneasy. Claire had warned that her and Andrew didn't have the same kind of friends that the rest of them had. And that they might not be friends, or anything, come Monday.

As Allison got to her locker she saw Andrew walking up and she couldn't help but smile and feel a small hope that Claire had been wrong. But, she noticed that Andrew wasn't smiling back.

"Hey," he mumbled, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but there.

"Hey," she whispered back.

Allison felt the tension and just knew it was all crumbling down around her. She turned to fumble her locker open. She barely heard the words coming out of Andrews mouth. By the time he had stopped talking she had gotten all her things out and turned to look at him finally. He opened and closed her mouth a few ties like he wanted to say something. Finally, he just looked at her and said, "well?".

Allison searched through her bag and removed his patch and handed it back to him. Everything seemed dim and like she had cotton in her ears. The last thing she wanted to do was watch Andrew walk away from her. So she turned on her heels and rushed, with her head down, to the nearest bathroom. Once there she she got changed back into her normal clothes and stuffed Claires back into her bag. Allison did all this with only one thought in her head. Why even pretend to be someone else? It's not worth it since they'll leave anyway.

Allison got through first period but after that she couldn't bare it anymore. Andrew was in her second period and she didn't want to face that. So she went to the back of the school and slipped out the door. Walking around the school, she passed smokers corner to the next niche. Once there she sat down with her bag in her lap and just stared at it. She heard two bells and kids coming and going for lunch.

Suddenly there was a whistle and without giving it a thought she put her hand up to catch a coke. His familiar books skidded out in front of him as he slid down the wall to sit beside her. He didn't say anything for a while as both of them drank their cokes. Allison had pulled out some chips for them and they sat in a comfortable silence. Finally, Allison looked over and raised her eyebrows.

Bender pulled a smoke from his pocket and lit it up. "Well, basically, she said she couldn't do it. Her parents both flipped shit and she didn't wanna hear it from her friends that she was dating some druggie loser."

He took a big puff and let it out slowly. Glancing over at her she gave him an "and" look. He scoffed at her and rolled his eyes.

"And I may have yelled...a lot And may have used the words fuck you and spoiled bitch."

Allison couldn't help a smile and a slight laugh at that. She knew Bender had a pretty bad temper and could be pretty scary when he got really mad. But the thought of that blow out was just comical to her.

"And you?"

Her laughter died in her throat and the smile left her face. She really didn't want to have this conversation. But Bender waited and didn't let it go. Allison knew he'd wait till she was ready. It had to have been around ten minutes before she managed to say anything.

"I wasn't really what he wanted. He just got caught up in the moment. We don't have anything in common. He actually has a thing for Claire and she liked you so he settled with me. I'm not sure if he said anything else, I sorta zoned out the rest."

Allison could feel the tears starting to burn her eyes. She definitely wasn't a crier but knew she wasn't going to be able to hold them back for long.

"That fucking bastard...", Bender said under his breath. And then, "I'm gonna kill him."

She could hear the rage in his voice as he jumped up and started across the rocks back toward the school.

"John."

The sound stopped Bender in his tracks. He turned around to face her. "I'm not going to let that asshole treat you like that. It's not right. I'm a dick and can't really blame Claire for not wanting to be with a druggie with an anger problem. But haven't done shit to him and aren't a horrible person."

"You aren't either" Allison told him.

"Yes I am." And with that he turned around and marched back to the school to find Andrew.

Allison jumped up to follow him. She didn't want him in even more trouble on account of her. As she ran to catch up with his long strides, he managed to find Andrew quite quickly. He had just walk out the back doors.

"Hey sporto!"

Andrew looked up just in time to see Benders fist coming at him. The punch knocked him on his ass and Bender grabbed the front of his shirt as he raised his fist and connected it with Andrews face two more times. Allison grabbed Benders arm as he pulled back for another hit.

"Please, John, please! I just wanna go home! Please!" She was full on crying now and couldn't stop. He turned and saw her face. The anger left his eyes and was replaced with a look of regret. He turned to face Andrew and bent down face to face.

He said in a voice filled with so much hate that it shocked Allison, "You don't touch her, you don't look at her, you don't even think about her. Got it?"

Bender dropped Andrew to the ground and turned to Allison. He grabbed her hand and stormed off with he in tow. They went back to their little niche and Allison hit the ground crying. Bender was still raging and pacing back and forth.

"John.", she whispered.

She heard him slid down next to her. Allison slid her hand across the pavement and grabbed a little piece of his shirt to hold onto. The fabric just seemed comfortable and something calming to hold to. Never once did she look up. A few seconds later she felt a slight tug on her skirt. Bender had grabbed a piece of it like she had done to his shirt.

Neither of them were good at comforting someone or any touching in general really. Everyone that touched them, hurt them. So they had just stopped. They sat like that for hours until the sun started setting. Bender walked her home and that night she didn't feel utterly alone. She knew for sure that someone was just as broken as her.


End file.
